Mutation
by Ask the Lonely
Summary: What if Shadow was born as a regular hedgehog? What if Shadow wasn't born as the ultimate life form... What if he gained the power... ON HOLD
1. The Beginning

****

**I am Shadow the Hedgehog. A research experiment... gone deadly wrong. I've caused so much destruction... I should never have been created. **

**This is who I am.**

--

_Prologue_

"Come on professors! We mustn't fail this time!" A plump man with a huge mustache yelled to his fellow workers.

"Just a little bit more..." The old man whispered to himself as he clicked on a keyboard rapidly. The scientists around him were pressing all kind of switches. As all of this was going on, electricity was traveling towards the middle of the room. All of a sudden, the currents stopped and the scientists looked at each other.

"D-Did it work...? Professor Robotnik." A young man next to Robotnik asked in a shaky voice.

"Lets go and check." Robotnik made his way towards the middle of the room. The smoke cleared away to reveal a large capsule with green liquid inside. But, there wasn't just liquid inside, inside there was also a tiny hedgehog. The monitors started to beep as it moved it's little paws.

"A-Amazing!" The scientists cheered. They have finally done it. They have finally created a life form, with their own hands. Robotnik smiled at the small hedgehog, proud with what he has done.

--

A young girl sat in a wheel chair as she watched the planet Earth. She had fair blonde and hair and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a long dress that matched her eyes.

"Maria, dear." Robotnik spoke out to her as he came through an automatic door.

"Grandfather!" the girl spun around her wheel chair, "What brings you here?"

"Oh my dear, I've finally done it!"

"You didn't get hurt again did you?" She asked him in a worried voice as she rolled towards him.

"No no! Of course not. I finally made _it_." Robotnik said proudly as he raised his gloved hands which had an animal on it. It was a small curled up hedgehog. Maria stared at the creature with fascination.

"Is it a boy? Girl? Did you pick a name for it yet?" She asked her grandfather excitedly.

"Of course not! I wanted you to decide that. And it's a boy" The plump man said to her kindly.

"Can I hold him?" She asked, "I mean... will the quills hurt?"

Robotnik looked at his grandchild. He finally saw her happy, he achieved one of his goals. "It won't if you treat him very gently. Try not to grip the little fellow to hard or your hands will bleed."

The professor handed the small hedgehog to Maria. He gently placed him on the girls hands and she brought the creature towards her eye level.

"What should we name him?" The girl studied the hedgehogs oddly colored black quills.

"Well, we can't exactly call him 'Fluffy!" The old man joked. His daughter giggled lightly.

"How about we name it 'Shadow.'" She offered.

"Shadow?"

"Well, look at it's quills, grandfather. They remind me of the shadows."

"Oh, all right." Robotnik agreed towards the strange suggestion of a name.

Maria noticed the quills move. She gasp slightly and Robotnik moved towards her side to see what was happening. The tiny hedgehog slowly unraveled itself, only showing it's face.

Maria smiled and gently said, "Welcome to the world, Shadow the Hedgehog."

--

**So yeah... prologue over. Gimmie your thoughts people! And yes, Shadow is just a regular non-mutated looking hedgehog XD I do not have a beta reader so sorry if it's crappy.**


	2. Form

**I am Shadow the Hedgehog the Ultimate Life Form born and raised aboard the Ark! I shall live on... I am the protector of the Ark... I am living proof of the Ultimate Life Form...**

**This is who I am.**

Maria walked down the long halls of the Ark with Shadow in her arms. For some reason, the hedgehog had taking a strange liking to the young teen. Maria looked at the black quilled animal as she passed her grandfathers room. Shadow just looked adorable, all snuggled up.

"... I forbid it!"

The loud voice of Professor Robotnik was heard. It wasn't usual that she would hear him yell, so curiosity killed the cat and Maria decided to peek through the open crack. Inside were two men in business coats and another person with a camera.

"Please Professor! This will take a rise in our economic policies!" One of the business people begged.

"Your asking me to put Shadow in a place were he will be treated as if he was a trophy to look at?! Despicable!"

Maria gasped. So this was whats going on. How dare they treat the life form as if he was something to be judged by many (AN sorry I just loled at this part). She could feel tears ready to drop but she wouldn't let them. She had to be strong and not show her weakness to anyone. Maria felt the quills of the hedgehog move in her palms and she looked down. Shadow looked at her with his black eyes and scratched her palm with his nose. Maria let out a small smile and left. It was if the animal understood the situation she was in.

--

"Cmon Shadow, it's not _that _hard to swim." Maria let out a laugh as she watched poor little Shadow furiously move his paws in the water and yet, he wasn't getting anymore. This has been going on for five minutes and the hedgehog was know frustrated. Why wouldn't he move?! After another minute or two, he finally gave up and just floated on his back, watching Maria laugh.

It was honestly entertaining to watch Shadow try to swim through a bathtub. No matter how hard he tried, he still wouldn't get anywhere. When Maria was finally done with her fit of laughter, she plucked out Shadow from the water and wrapped him in a towel. The hedgehog made a hissing noise as he faced the water.

"That was probably the best minutes of my life Shadow." Maria said with a large smile. If he could, Shadow would've rolled his eyes.

--

"Maria look at this!" Professor Robotnik yelled over to his granddaughter as she passed the experiment room. She stepped into the room with Shadow perched on her head.

"What is it grandfather?"

"I've finally finished my prototype for 'Air Shoes'" He declared proudly.

"Air... Shoes?" Maria asked quizzically as she look towards the screen in front of her.

"Watch and observe!" The scientist pressed a red button and two shoes were placed in the middle of the screen. Nothing at first happened. Suddenly, the shoes started to float by themselves.

"Wow! That's amazing!" she exclaimed, "How is it doing that?"

The professor smirked. "Well you can't really see it, but under the shoes there are many openings were a large amount of air is pushed out of. So in simple terms, lots of air comes out from the holes and the shoes float."

Robotnik swore he could see Maria's eyes sparkle in fascination. It was moments like these he was somewhat happy that she had her disease.

"But, can humans use these yet?" She finally asked.

"Sadly no. There just isn't enough pressure for the shoes to sustain all that weight.

"By the way, is there any problems with him?" Robotnik asked as he inspected the hedgehog. It was true, he was sort of changing but nothing major. Some of his quills were starting to grow what seemed like red highlights and his eye's were also turning red.

Maria picked up Shadow from her head and inspected him. "His normal habit's haven't changed but his colors have. I guess he's a fan of the color 'Red'."

Robotnik rubbed his long mustache. "Turn him over for me please."

Maria did so. When Shadow was fully on his back, a white patch of fur was forming between his front paws.

"Maria, I don't think this is healthy." Robotnik said as he scratched the soft patch of fur. "Can I barrow him for a week or so?"

The girls mood fell but she knew it was better for Shadow's health. The hedgehog wiggled around, as if saying 'No! I want to be with her!'

"It's okay Shadow, it won't be that long."

--

Maria sat in her room, crying her eyes out. Something has happened to Shadow... let's just say he doesn't have a high chance of living. So there she was, feeling depressed and crying like she's never have been before. Before the creature was made everything around her has been so gloomy. When he was finally made, it was as if Shadow was her light... Or something.

It might've sounded selfish but to her, it was if he was a god. Shadow for some reason encouraged her will to live more so then the fact that she wanted to see how Earth was.

A blaring alarm rang through the whole Ark and the emergency lights sprang into action. The Professors voice was heard down the many halls.

"Alert! Alert! Someone has stolen our creation, Shadow the hedgehog!"

The girl sat up frantically and looked around. How could anyone steal Shadow? Her door opened and an exhausted Robotnik came in.

"Maria, I want you to stay here." He said in between breaths.

"But why?! I love Shadow too and I can't let him just get taken like that!" She tried to yell as she stood up.

"Please Maria, your body can't sustain that much pressure." The professor tried to push her back on to the bed.

"B-But I want to help!" A sudden thud was heard from the opposite side of the room. The two humans stopped their argument and looked at the door. A deformed like creature stood on two feet. It's whole body was black, cept the red markings on the quills, and it's eyes were blood red. The creature barley even made it to about a foot in height. The thing that stood out was the white patch of fir on It's chest.

The creature reached out with it's hand, as if blinded.

"Ma-Mar-i-a?"

**And the real story begins. Sorry I didn't post this up sooner. I had this whole chapter done and just needed to proof readed. -gets shot-. Lol. I dunno when the next update is going to be. Maybe I should torture you all and post it really really late. Lol. Thanks for the reviews by the way.**


	3. Cold

**I am Shadow the Hedgehog. I and only I know what is best. No one can tell _me_ what to do.**

**This is who I am.**

"Ma-Maria."

Robotnick and Maria looked at the strange creature. It wasn't like anything seen on the Ark... they were just sealed in capsules. The little creature took a couple of steps forward towards Maria, who's eye's were wide with fear. It swayed as it took steps towards her. Robotnick sensed fear; what if one of the failed experiments escaped somehow? He took out a little gun he had always kept from his coat.

"Don't move!" He snarled at the creature. The thing didn't heed the command, it just kept on moving.

Maria kept on watching in fright. What if it will kill both of them? Robotnick shot the gun, but it was muffled in her ears. She closed her eye's and hoped everything would stop soon.

"N-Not w-wante-d?" The black creature trembled, "B-ut lve Ma-Ma-r-ia."

Robotnick shot once more, not paying attention to a single word it said. The bullets were dead on but somehow would always curve around the creature.

"Stay away!" Robotnick said as guards came in through the door.

"Wh-y eveone m-mean?" The guards pointed their loaded guns at the creature, none of them had a look of mercy on their faces. The little creature had a look of confusion, it's never seen a gun in it's life. It dashed over to the all ready scared Maria and hugged her tightly.

"Ma-Maria!" It closed it's eye's and smiled, as if there wasn't a threat in the world. Maria opened her eye's as she felt something cold on her. She was greeted with the sight of black quills highlighted with red. The gears in her head started to turn and everything clicked into place.

"Wait a minute! This is Shadow!" She wrapped her arms around Shadow and she started to cry, "Please don't shoot him."

The guards lowered their gun, Robotnick had the word 'surprised' all over his face. "Maria, how can you be so sure?"

She now smiled. "The quills grandfather the quills."

As she sat there hugging the mutated hedgehog, she couldn't help but wonder why he felt so cold. As if he has been on the poles of the Earth.

"Maria!" The hedgehog spurted out once more before he fainted.

The young girl started to visibly shiver.

"Maria... what's wrong?" The Professor asked in a worried voice.

"I-It's Shadow... He's cold." It was true. Shadow was as cold as something inside her freezer. (Lol!)

Professor Robotnick reached out towards Shadow, feeling his fur. Immediatly he recoiled at the freezing creature.

"Maria let go of it now!" He commanded in a harsh tone.

The girl paused for a couple of seconds, as if she was reluctant to let go of the now mutated hedgehog. She sighed and finally put him on the floor, immediately hugging herself.

"Just please... Don't hurt him."

--

Shadow stared at the lettered blocks in front of him, not knowing what to do with them. He _did_ try to throw them but then Maria scolded him for that. His check up already past and Maria was still in a so called "school", leaving black hedgehog absolutely bored. Shadow got up and walked towards the door. He reached up for the handle and turned it downwards. For a high-tech place, it still had regular doors.

He scampered as the door flung outwards. He look at his feet in hate, still not used to walking. He looked down the metallic halls and decided to go one direction. He ran happily down the halls, not knowing where he was going. When Shadow passed the scientists, he missed their evaluating eyes; which were usually with disgust. The scientists were still not used to seeing a mutated animal; they were always judging him, thinking that they are above him. Luckily the black little hedgehog didn't notice these stares.

Shadow avoided seeing guards. He wasn't supposed to be walking, or running, by himself. Professor Robotnick stated that very strickly. He didn't care though, no one can take away his freedom. Unfortunately, while Shadow was thinking about freedom, he dumbly walked into a guard. The thought didn't process through his brain immediately (his brain wasn't fully formed).

He looked up at the ginormous guard. "Uh oh."

"Hey isn't that the--"

"Get him!"

Shadows' face brightened, at least he was going to pass the time by having guards chase him everywhere. Guard number 1 tried to grab the hedgehog but Shadow ran three feet away.

"Come on, you're so sloow!" He taunted.

"Gr, that thing is so--"

Shadow dashed out of the way again, half laughing. It didn't take long for him to get tired, being not fully formed really sucked. After catching his breath, Shadow continued to walk. He passed many doors that he did not know about. As he turned, he saw a guard running; probably looking for him. Oh well, it's their loss for being so dumb. He walked passed a test room. It was pretty obvious because it was actually labeled "TESTING ROOM". Yes, the black hedgehog can now read. But he couldn't read long sentences or complex words. Shadow wanted to look through the small window but he was just too short.

_Someday, I'm going to be as tall as Maria!_The black hedgehog thought to himself. It was pure coincidence that Professor Robotnick came out. The old man swung the door, abling Shadow to see what was inside. He cringed. It was just failed versions of himself. How he hated those ugly experiments.

"Oh Shadow, I was just looking for you." Robotnick ironcally forgot about the rule that he told Shadow.

"What?" The black hedgehog tilted his head in a childish manner.

"Come with me." Robotnick led him to a different area. Shadow was mesmerised at how the Professor could remember which way was which. There were literately maps _everywhere_ because so many people got lost. Some weren't even found... or so Maria told him.

The professor opened a door, leading Shadow inside.

"What it is?" Shadow tried to ask.

"That's incorrect Shadow. It is 'What is it'."

The hedgehog repeated, but this time correctly, "What is it?"

"I've noticed how your feet were taking damage as you walked," Shadow looked at his over sized feet, "And decided if it would be more comfortable if you put these shoes on."

Robotnick opened a little hole in one of the walls. "Now, they are only a prototype so I'm not sure if they will work..."

He put on the shoes for Shadow. As soon as he was down, the curious hedgehog started to move his left foot around.

"What the holes on bottom?"

"What are the holes on the bottom," Robotnick corrected him and Shadow murmured the sentence under his breath, "And the holes are for air to come out. I haven't been able to figure how to make them work on a precise speed yet; it only worked with energy being supplied."

"Not work?"

"That's right. They will soon enough. Actually as soon as I figure out how to give them energy without heavy machines."

Shadow nodded and smiled.

"Now go back to your room, you know you are not supposed to be out."

Shadows ears sagged. "But it boring."

"But _it's_ boring. Anyway, even yourself knows that you are fragile at the moment. We can't take a risk with you."

Shadow humphed and walked out of the room. He inspected a map outside the room and walked towards his room.

--

"I'm back!" Maria walked through the door to her room. She found Shadow playing around with the blocks on the floor. "I'm sorry if you were bored."

"It's okay." He said as he turned his full attention to Maria. "I'm just glad you are back."

"Oh! You just used a sentence correctly!" She put the papers she was carrying and rushed over to Shadow.

"I did?" A tiny blush appeared on his cheeks.

"Yes! And that means that you are growing!" She patted him on the head twitching a little bit at how cold he was. The hedgehog closed his eyes and smiled, liking the special attention that he got.

"Hm? Where did you get the shoes?"

Shadow flinched a little bit. "Oh I- I- Uh..."

"Shaadow... did you go outside without supervision again?"

The hedgehog lowered his head. "Y-Yeah..."

Maria gave him a little scolding look but quickly dropped it. "It's okay. As long as you didn't get caught."

Shadow inwardly remembered how he bumped into the guard.

"I ran into grandfather and he gave me shoes."

"Hmm... know that I think about it, I think I saw them somewhere before."

"You did? When?"

"Probably when you were just a little guy." She giggled. Shadow didn't like to be called things like 'little'.

"Don't call me small! One day I'm going to be bigger then the whole Ark!"

Maria started to laugh at Shadow's expressions.

"Hey it's not funny!" he gave her a playful glare.

"All right, all right. What do you want to do?"

Shadow smiled brightly.

--

INTERMISSION!! Ok you guys this Fan fic is really hard for me to write. Not because of the writers block it's just that... Thinking of Shadow being so happy just is hard to write. I mean look at the way he is know! It just tears my heart apart and I can't type. I would pay to see Shadow actually smile. This is one of the reasons why I don't update actually. Lol I just can't seem to type the sentences I want to... it's just so sad...

--

"Can we go exploring the Ark?" Shadow asked with a shine in his eyes. He was always curious about everything. Maria was going to quickly agree but then she remembered something. The. Dreaded. Homework.

"Oh I'm sorry, I can't right know. Ever since grandfather asked one of the scientists to teach me, he's been giving me icky homework." She crinckled her nose at the thought of homework.

"Homework?" the small hedgehog asked.

"It's like work that I _have_ to do on my spare time..."

"What?! That should be illegal!" Shadow said in anger. He wanted to spend time with Maria!

She giggled at Shadow as she went to take her papers. "Yes it should be."

"Ah let me help you so this can be done faster!" Their hands touched and the girl recoiled hers.

"M-Maria...?"

"Oh I- uh, I'm sorry Shadow, your hands are just cold." He gave her a quizzically stare but ignored it. He rummaged through her papers and picked out a worksheet that had a lot of blanks. As Maria watched Shadow's expression change to confusion to even more confusion, she began to wonder more and more about why the hedgehog's body was so cold. It wasn't like this before he had humanoid traits. This was something she was going to as her grandfather about.

--

Robotnick sighed as he saw his granddaughter stand in front of him. There was no hiding it, Shadow _was_as cold as the Arctic itself!

"But, why Grandfather?" She asked meekly, truly worried about her friend.

"I don't really know Maria. It seems like something is missing from him, maybe that's why." He spoke as he looked through the 'check ups' that Shadow went through. They weren't regular ones that usual animals get. His made him go to the limits. In strength and speed. It seemed as if the hedgehog was learning things in an alarming pace. It usually takes a child a couple of months to speak its first words and Shadow was now talking in full sentences in only just 5 days. Not only that, but his strength and speed was unnatural for him. A small sized body like his shouldn't be able to pick up 10 pound dumbbells like it was nothing. No way was he going to tell Maria what they put Shadow through in his first few days of changing to..._ this_. Some of the scientist were all ready beginning to fear the animal and suggesting to just dump it in space.

"I'll look more into it, just for you."

Outside, a black hedgehogs quills and tail sagged. Was he really... that cold?

--

"So if this lines bisects these two angles than the two angles have to be congruent... So line AB is equal to line AB in reflexive property...?" Maria said as she marked her paper once more. It's been two months since Shadow became the new Shadow. He was growing quickly, reaching at a height of 2 feet and 5 inches. His quills also seemed to increase in size and become more sharp. Red marks started to appear on his arms and legs. Finally, his eyes seemed to glow a more deeper and darker red.

Shadow glanced over at the paper. "That's right."

Maria scratched her head in frustration. How was her friend to smart all of a sudden?! It just seemed a while ago that he could barley speak a sentence!

"That's not fair Shadow." She whined as her head hit the table they were sitting at. "How are you so gosh darn smart?!"

Shadow smirked, something he picked up from the Professor. "I just pay attention more then you do."

"But I'm the one who taught you! I hate writing these dumb proofs. When in the world am I ever going to need them?" She complained her heart out and the hedgehog had to stop himself from laughing. He watched Maria continue to do her work. He knew he had to go soon, but he didn't really care. He'd just rather stay here... with Maria. Whenever Shadow was with Maria, he always felt happy. So happy that he'd miss strict deadlines the Professor gave to him... just like he was doing now.

Shadow sighed. "Maria I have to get going."

"Aww, but it's lonely without you..." She looked up from her homework to Shadow.

He nodded his head. "I'd actually rather be here but I don't really want the Professor to yell his head of for me being late... again."

Maria sighed and waved good bye to Shadow. As soon as the hedgehog stepped outside and closed the door, all trace of happiness was lost. He hated being without Maria and more, he hated the scientist who looked down on him as if he was just a dumb animal. He started to notice the harsh stares and whispers behind his back. With a glare set on his face, he marched towards Robotnick.

**Right if people couldn't tell, I start with a saying in one of Shadow the Hedgehog endings... for those who don't know what the hell it is XD I just pick at random by the way. Yeah as stated above this is really hard for me to type. Well uh, gimmie your feed back? I'm writing another Sonic story. Sorry for updating so slow.**

**Lol looking through spellcheck I'm going like 'wtf did I seriously make these mistakes?' like on the last paragraph that starts with Maria's name I wrote "Maried" I know wtf? XD**


	4. Writers Block Story

**Mhmm, I was actually working on Mutation but then I got a damn writers block... and its bad cuz Its like right at the begining of the chapter. Only got 400 words done on it... or something like that. Neway, I just started randomly typing stuff and this is what I got. Oh I didn't spellcheck or anything and didn't go back to fix my mistakes. Im so 1337**

Sonic the Hedgehog randomly appeared in the Ark as Shadow and Maria were walking through the ugh... isles?

"Yo wazzup shads?!" The blue hedgehog waved.

"Who the fuck are you?!"

"SHADOW WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!"

"Shad up I talk the way I want to talk, now who are you ho?!"

"It is me..." Sonic put on a serious expression. "I AM... YOUR FATHER!!"

"WHAT THE FU--"

"SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG WATCH UOUR MOTH!"

"SHUT UP I TALK TH WAY I WANT TO TALK!"

Sonic smirked at th e scene he created. He created a total disaster. He evily chuckled.

"Haha,... evil mind-fuck!" He pulled out the white chaos emerald and time traveled way just like in Sonic the Hedgehog 2006.

"Look Maria! I talk the way I want to talk! I'm a fricken teenager! You can't control me!"

"YOUR NOT A TEENAGER! YOUR ONLY FRICKEN MONTHS OLD!!"

"Hmph! 3 months!" Maria smaked the pudding out of SHadow. Out of nowehre, another timehole appeared. Anf out came... Shadow the Hedgehog number two!

"Holy rocket science it's another me!" Shadow number two said as he watched Shadow number one fight with Maria.

"Oh my science its all of that damn hedgehogs fault!" Hadow number two yelled in frustration. He knew Sonic caused this fiasco and there was no way to stop it now. "God its worser thenwhen britney spears shaved her head. ALl of the damn site pop ups were filled with her shaved head!!! I like to click on those things to mess up Fakers computer with viruses!!"

Somewhere in the future...

"DAMN THAT SHAODW!! I FOT MORE VIRUSES!?!!?!?!" Sonic looked behind himself to see a two tailed fox workin on something.

"TAILS FIS THIS DAMN COMPUTER NOW!!" the blue hedgehog yelled.

The small 'kitsune' as the japanese freaks like to calll him, stared at Sonic long and hard antil he funally answered. "Gimmie 10 dollars."

**I have nothing against japanese lovers!! Oh and I also got Sonic Unleashed for Xbox 360! IT IS SO FRIGGING TIGHT!! DON'T LISTEN TO GAMESPOT OR IGN THEY ARE FRICKEN RETARDED!! I love it. I don't know why people don't like the werehog. I personally love doing awesome combos and beating the crap out of enemies. **


End file.
